louise on the left (coast)

How did a whole year just slip by? It's official: I'm now pushing "50" with very short stick . (Well, only 3 years long.) But, somehow even that just doesn't seem right. *sigh... _______________________________________________________ I still miss my fifth grader more than words can say. (She is still up in the Mountains all week long at her school's Out Door Science School.) Obviously it appears that she's having a blast - which is the best birthday present I could want. Life is so quiet. I just wish just wish it weren't this quiet. How long is it till I can pick up my youngest child from school? It's way too quiet around here this week! _______________________________________________________

People are (still) shooting and killing the wolves?! Last time I checked it was 2008. Nobody lives in The Little House In the Big Woods , anymore. They've put a Starbucks on the corner of Stump and Field. This is now , and here, on planet, USA, we have things like Tivo, Costco and Drive Thrus. Leave the wild animals alone, I mean. Wolves ? Weren't they just on the Endangered Species list? So, now you morons are organizing a "Fly Thru" to kill them? What are these wolves supposed to be any real threat to? Tennis balls? This is just not what I would call a wise use of time, money or karma. Give me a break. How is this even up for debate? Does anyone even watch the Discovery Channel? Wolves are amazingly loving, intelligent, and kind and....how is this even a question? Shoot the guy who cut you off on the freeway today, but please. come on... leave the wolves alone . Wolves care about their own with more love and loyalty than we show each other. Honor th

"Oh, MIGHTY WHITENESS!" It's official. I did it. I brought it on: All of it; Snow and Ice. Due to the all seeing, all powerful eyes of me, "Goddess Snow-Mommy," I've succeeded in delaying tmy 5th grader's class trip to Cedar Crest (for a day) due to my hazardous conditions. Sadly, all my magic Uber-powers over the elements will be gone by tomorrow. And good thing, too. Juliet is fairly bummed, as her whole class is, to have to wait yet one more day for the camp trip. I laughed and told her that she may still get to make up that extra day she missed today, because they're talking about another storm coming in just before they are supposed to return on Friday! Beware the all-seeing eyes of "Snow-Mommy!"

Tomorrow my peanut allergic fifth grader leaves for the San Bernadino mountains for a week in Outdoor Science Camp. She has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. More on what this has meant to me later: Till then I love this link, I have share this great link called: (Untold) Requirements for Being a Parent of a Child with Food Allergies www.allergymoms.com/modules/wordpress/index.php?p=377

Needless to say, the tragic news about Heath Ledger weighs heavily on my mind in light of my last posting. It seems obscene to make any jokes regarding pain killers today. We must always take care of ourselves, first. Never get sloppy or reckless with our bodies. One little slip up could lead to profound heartbreak for others. Brokeback Mountain was flawlessly acted, and almost impossible to watch now. It was in Heath Ledger's ability to make accessible all of his sensitivity and vulnerability astonished me the most. He was so open. Not to mention his flawless authenticity. You see that kind of work so, so rarely. His death is truly is like losing, a Dean or Brando. My heart obviously goes out to his family, but also to a generation of people who would have been that much more enlightened if he had only been here longer. Don't really feel much like writing today.

Sunday morning. Today, I actually feel & see some improvement. Also, I don't feel quite so packed and horrid anymore. There is progess. L.

For some writing is therapy; For others; an indulgence. For some, it's both. This Thursday I took the plunge and went in to USC to have a Septoplasty and Rhinoplasty done. I decided if two years+ of antibiotics wasn't enough to cure "Severe Chronic Pan-sinusitis" that perhaps by getting this procedure would help. But, I won't lie: I hate hospitals. And I wasn't looking forward to this. However, I'm hoping this will end a long battle with sinus problems over the years. If you wonder why I'm posting these, it's because I would have liked to have been able to see what other's post-op photos of this procedure were (that were not not posted by any particular medical office.) This is how I looked the first day: Even though I am an avid fan of both David Lynch and David Kronenberg, I am opting not to gross out people just for thrills, so trust me; these are the "better" shots here. (However, if you really, really want more details abou

I've been doing laundry from our trip to Vermont. However, I don't get very far because I keep pulling items out of the pile when they smell like the cabin. I don't know if I can describe the scent, it's sort of a mix of cedar and snow. I feel as if I've just broken off a clandestine affair as I hold the clothes up to my face and inhale all the memories. It's gray here in California. Since we've returned here the news has incessantly warned that we will soon to be "slammed with storms." I have been waiting. I heard it rain lightly last night. And I see clouds. They really don't know storms here. When I wake, I see the gray in the window and expect to see white covering the world hear the soft hum of snow plow in the distance. But, that is gone now. I see cars. Hear cars. Smell cars. I do see some clouds, though.

What I'd listen to if I could be back in that cabin right now. In Our Bedroom After The War. Artist: Stars